'Incest Between Siblings Should Not Be Criminalised', Recommends German Ethics Council

In a statement released on Wednesday, the majority of the council’s members requested that consensual sexual relations between siblings of legal age should no longer be a crime, Deutsche Welle reports.

The newspaper says the matter was put to the council after ongoing appeals made by a Leipzig man over his relationship with his sister.

Stuebing failed in appeals to the Federal Constitution Court in 2008 and to the European Court of Human Rights over his rights to a family life in 2012.

Karolewski was allowed to keep custody of their youngest child but that the other three were taken into care. Two of the children are disabled though it is uncertain whether incest is the cause.

The German Ethics Council statement, as reported by The Independent, said: “Incest between siblings appears to be very rare in Western societies according to the available data but those affected describe how difficult their situation is in light of the threat of punishment.

“The majority of the German Ethics Council is of the opinion that it is not appropriate for a criminal law to preserve a social taboo.

“In the case of consensual incest among adult siblings, neither the fear of negative consequences for the family, nor the possibility of the birth of children from such incestuous relationships can justify a criminal prohibition.

“The fundamental right of adult siblings to sexual self-determination has more weight in such cases than the abstract protection of the family.”

Responding to the vote, spokeswoman for Angela Merkel's CDU party, Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker, told Deutsche Welle the abolition of the law against incest would give out the wrong signal.

"Abolishing criminal punishment against incestuous actions within a family would go completely against protecting the undisturbed development of children," she added.